James Edwin Campbell
James Edwin Campbell was an influential African American poet, journalist, and educator born in 1863 in Ohio. He is notable for his contributions to literature and education in the late 19th century, particularly during a time when African American voices were gaining recognition. After graduating from Pomeroy High School in 1884, Campbell pursued higher education at Miami College in Ohio and began writing poetry as early as 1885. He worked as a teacher and later became principal of Langston School in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where he advocated for the education of African American youth.
In 1891, Campbell was appointed the first principal of the West Virginia Colored Institute, now known as West Virginia State University, and he also taught mathematics there. His literary legacy includes two collections of poetry, "Driftings and Gleanings" (1887) and "Echoes from the Cabin and Elsewhere" (1895), which feature both standard English and dialect poetry. Campbell is recognized for his contributions to African American literary traditions, particularly in dialect poetry, and his works were included in notable anthologies that highlighted the voices of African American writers. Despite his early death at the age of twenty-eight, Campbell's influence and importance in literary history continue to be acknowledged, even while overshadowed by contemporaries like Paul Laurence Dunbar.
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James Edwin Campbell
Representative
- Born: September 28, 1867
- Birthplace: Pomeroy, Ohio
- Died: January 26, 1896
- Place of death: Pomeroy, Ohio
Biography
In Ohio in the nineteenth century, two babies were named James Edwin Campbell at birth. The first, who was born in 1843, ultimately served as Ohio’s governor from 1890 to 1892. The second infant (and the subject of this entry) grew up to become a poet, journalist, and educator. He was the son of James and Lethia (née Stark) Campbell. He attended public schools in Pomeroy and graduated from Pomeroy High School in 1884.
Campbell attended Miami College in Ohio, and as early as 1885, he wrote poetry. Campbell taught in a school near Gallipolis, Ohio, for two years and was an active member of the Republican Party. Campbell moved to West Virginia in 1887, where he headed the staff of the Pioneer, an African American newspaper.
Campbell continued his career as an educator; he taught school until he became principal of the Langston School in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. During Campbell’s tenure as principal, he supervised Langston’s move to a five-story brick building. In 1891, Campbell married Mary Champ. Also in 1891, he was named the first principal of the West Virginia Colored Institute (now known as West Virginia State University). Campbell was also appointed professor of mathematical science at the Institute, and Mary Champ-Campbell was appointed instructor in vocal music and drawing.
Campbell traveled throughout West Virginia urging African American youth, including those who were laboring on farms and in coal mines, to seek additional education. Campbell, while residing in West Virginia, was elected president of a statewide teachers’ association for African Americans. In 1894, he resigned as principal of the West Virginia Colored Institute, moved to Chicago, and worked as a staff writer for the Chicago Times-Herald.
Although Campbell died at the age of twenty-eight, he left a literary legacy of articles, reviews, and two volumes of poetry: Driftings and Gleanings (1887), which was published while Campbell was living in West Virginia; and Echoes from the Cabin and Elsewhere (1895), which was published after Campbell moved to Chicago and is a compilation of his verse written over a ten-year period. Campbell wrote poetry in standard English as well as dialect, and he is best known for his poetry rather than his prose.
Among the earliest African American anthologies to include Campbell’s verse are The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922), edited by James Weldon Johnson; and The Negro Caravan (1941), edited by Sterling A. Brown, Arthur P. Davis, and Ulysses Lee. It is interesting to note that both anthologies favor Campbell’s dialect poetry. Of the six poems by Campbell included in Johnson’s book, “Compensation” is the only one written in standard English; the dialect poems included are “Negro Serenade,” “De Cunjah Man,” “Uncle Eph’s Banjo Song,” “Ol’ Doc’ Hyar,” and “When Ol’ Sis’ Judy Pray.” The last two poems are also included in Brown, Davis, and Lee’s anthology. Although the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Campbell’s contemporary, has consistently overshadowed Campbell’s verse, James Edwin Campbell holds an important place in literary history as one of the first African Americans to write dialect poetry.